Chapter 52: The Ninth Well II (1)

  My body suddenly became stiff, I thought I already knew a lot, knew the origin of the paper cuts in Chujiang Mountain, knew the cause of Xiaohui's death, and also knew that the Dream Club was actually controlled by Xiaohui's mother behind the scenes. I also knew that many letters were sent out by Liu Mama, although there were still many questions that had not been answered yet, but I thought I would eventually know them all. However, when I suddenly heard Liu Mama mention "the ninth well" again, I couldn't help but be shocked once more. I remembered the text message Liu Mama had sent me:

  "Why must it be a well? Why can't it be something else?"

  It's right next to you.

  Ever since Tao Ding Tian's incident, I have always thought that the so-called Ninth Well was not referring to a real well, but a person. As for who this person is, I don't know either. It could be Tao Ding Tian or another stranger I don't recognize. But now hearing what Liu Mama said, it seems all my guesses were wrong.

  I held my breath and asked tensely: "Where is the ninth well?"

  Liu's mother shook her head and said: "I don't know either. The words she told you were taught by her, and the letters sent out were also given to me by her."

  "I asked, 'Is it her?' I was referring to the mysterious woman. I believed that Mother Liu must know who I was talking about. Indeed, she nodded and said, 'Every time she suddenly appears beside me in the middle of the night. I know she's not human.'"

  I didn't say anything else, if I still insisted that there are no ghosts in this world, then it would be really nonsense. At least I have seen several of them, and behind these ghosts, there seems to be a mysterious woman who is always weaving an extremely large conspiracy that I don't know about.

  I thought for a moment and asked, "Do you know Erliang?" This was actually the second time I had asked Liu Mama, but she still shook her head and said, "There were too many, I don't remember, but I do know that she was going to let me be the second one."

  I hastily asked, "What's the second one?" The words that Dong Agen said to me had been stuck in my mind all along, and I couldn't figure out what they meant. This time, hearing "the second one" again from Liu Mama's mouth, maybe I could find out something from her, especially since Liu Mama always said that I was also a part of this story, but until now, I still haven't discovered any connection between us.

  Liu's mother's face began to show a look of fear, and she stammered: "He is the first one, I am the second one, you are also the second one, please don't write it!"

  I really can't stand Mrs. Liu's vague and aimless talk anymore, so I couldn't help but shout loudly: "Who is he?"

  Liu's mother was startled by my sudden loud shout, but she calmed down and said: "Chu Jiangshan, Chu Jiangshan is the first!"

  I hastily comforted Mrs. Liu and asked her to speak slowly, Mrs. Liu took a deep breath and said: "Chu Jiangshan always comes to find me, one day he drank a lot of wine, at that time Old Chu was no longer here, he went somewhere alone, nobody would come to find me, only Chu Jiangshan still comes often.

  That day, he seemed to be both happy and sad, telling me a lot of inexplicable things, asking if I was willing to lose my life for my dreams. I had no idea what he was talking about, but if it could bring back Xiaohui, I wouldn't care about my own life, so I said I was willing. Chu Jiangshan burst out laughing loudly, scaring me, and said he was also willing, then asked if I knew what his dream was?

  My heart suddenly tensed up and I asked: "What's his dream?"

  Liu's mother said: "He said he wants to be the greatest horror master, and asked me if I know what is the greatest horror master."

  Chu Jiangshan's dream was exactly the same as mine, but I didn't have a clear definition of what true greatness really is. As soon as I heard Liu Mama say that, I couldn't help but ask: "What is it?"

  "He said that the greatest horror is not that people remember your name and works after you die, but that the terror you created continues to exist and persist even after you're gone."

  My heart gradually cooled down, and Mrs. Liu still looked confused, apparently she didn't understand what Chu Jiangshan's words meant until now, but I think I understood, Chu Jiangshan wanted to continue creating terror after his own death, Wang Qiang and Old Chu's deaths were definitely arranged by him in advance, so he could write those two letters ahead of time, even Xiaoxue's death might be his arrangement, and behind all these things was that mysterious woman.

  Chu Jiangshan is dead, but I have to say he really achieved his dream. The terror has been continuing, more and more people fell into the trap he set up, and then pulled in even more people to spread the terror. But why did he make so many stories come true? Why did he die such a bizarre death himself? If he hadn't died so early, he would have definitely set up an even bigger trap. From what Liu Mama said about their conversation after Chu Jiangshan got drunk that day, I don't think his death was as simple as natural causes.

  Liu Mama continued to talk about her and Chu Jiangshan's story, saying that after Chu Jiangshan died, she remembered his kindness to her and often went to the place where he kept those paper cutouts to burn some paper money for him. I also knew this place, it was where Xiao Hui took me last time. Now thinking back, maybe the crying sound we heard at that time was from Liu Mama. I carefully asked: "Do you know how he died?"

  Liu's mother shook her head and said, "One day he suddenly called me and said he had something to tell me. I asked him on the phone what it was, and he told me to hurry up and not bring anything with me. His voice was so soft, as if he was afraid of being heard by someone else. I could hardly hear him clearly. At that moment, I heard a loud cry from him, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying. Then there was a 'bang' sound, the mobile phone fell to the ground, and I heard his last sentence, which I still can't figure out what it means until now."

  "What did you say?"

  Liu's mother also looked stunned and said, "The ninth well."

  It's the ninth well again, what is this ninth well after all? From Liu Mama's account, Chu Jiangshan should also have died an unnatural death. It seems that he wanted to tell Liu Mama a secret before his death and saw something terrifying, but unfortunately, he didn't say it out in the end.

  I feel a little regretful, some secrets seem to be forever unknown, I asked: "What does this have to do with me?"

  Liu's mother opened her mouth, just about to say something to me, when suddenly her face changed drastically. She stood up and pointed behind me with her hand, as if she had seen something unbelievable there. I quickly turned around, but all I saw was a white wall behind me, nothing else.

  I turned around again, but found that Mrs. Liu was still standing upright, her face pale and frightening, constantly making "huh" sounds with her mouth. I grabbed her hand to let her sit down and rest for a while, but she suddenly pulled it back forcefully, struggling to touch herself, but this simple action seemed incredibly difficult for her. I wanted to lend a hand to help her, Mrs. Liu opened her eyes wide and looked at me, the panting sound in her mouth grew heavier, as if there was something she wanted to tell me, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.

  My heart was racing, I quickly took out my phone and dialed 1. Just then, Mrs. Liu suddenly grabbed me and said loudly, "The ninth well!" Then her breathing stopped, and her body gradually stiffened. I knew she had passed away. She still had many things to tell me, but it was too late. And the last thing she said was something that I thought about for a long time but couldn't understand.

  Liu Mama is dead, I called the police to report it. As for why I was at Liu Mama's place, I can only truthfully report what happened according to the text messages on my phone. Fortunately, these police officers were former colleagues of Er Lang's, and since I didn't have any motive to commit a crime, after some investigation, nothing came of it. When I was leaving the Public Security Bureau, a familiar police officer joked with me: "This old lady is really strange, who knows what she was doing clutching that jade pendant so tightly before she died? If there weren't any signs of struggle at the scene, I would have thought you were going to rob her!"

  My heart tightened, and it seemed that Mrs. Liu's last moment really wanted to grasp something, associating with the last words she said, could the ninth well be related to this jade pendant?

  I didn't have time to think about these things, I just turned off my phone during the interrogation, and now that I've turned it back on, I see that there are over a dozen missed calls, more than half of which are from my mom, and some from Sun Jingye. It was only then that I remembered he still wanted to talk to me about Erliang today. In a hurry, I first called my mom to comfort her for a few sentences, and then called Sun Jingye, telling him something had come up, asking where he was now, and rushing over as soon as possible.

  I saw Sun Jingye a few years ago, and I still have a vague impression of him. Now that I see him again, I feel that he hasn't changed much, and he still remembers my appearance. From afar, he greeted me and we found a place to sit down. After some simple small talk, I got straight to the point and asked: "Uncle Sun, what do you want to tell me?"

  Sun Jingye was a veteran public security officer who was very efficient in his work and didn't like to waste words. He nodded and said, "That letter was sent by me to you."

  I had already analyzed the possibility from the postmark, so when I heard him say that, although slightly surprised, I wasn't extremely shocked. I nodded and indicated for him to continue speaking.

  Sun Jingye saw my reaction was a bit strange, thought for a moment, and said: "Actually, this is what Erliang left me before he got into trouble. He said that if one day the thing he worried about happened, I must send out this letter."

  What's worrying Er Lang? I couldn't help but feel curious and asked: "What is he worried about?"

  Sun Jingye's eyes stared at me tightly and said: "He has always been worried that one day your words will become a real event."

  I sprang up from my chair, this time I was really surprised, my mouth agape as I stared blankly at Sun Jingye, completely unsure of what to say. Sun Jingye gestured for me to sit down and said: "Erlang is my disciple, you're his good friend, there are some things I should clarify with you. Actually, have you noticed that before the incident, Erlang was acting strangely?"

  About the abnormality of Erliang, I had a premonition early on, so I didn't plan to hide anything from Sun Jingye. He nodded and Sun Jingye fell silent for a moment before saying: "I have to start from the beginning with you, there's someone, don't know if you've heard of him?"

  I had just come back to myself from the shock of a moment before, when Sun Jingye asked me, and I hastily asked: "Who?"

  "He is also a writer, named Chu Jiangshan."